The journey back to the palace was quite the event.

Xie Lian had no trouble at all with the child in his arms, but Hua Cheng really had his hands full with the brats; though the dogs were still incredibly docile. The boys were kicking and screaming insults, as well as threats, and Xie Lian was honestly impressed that Hua Cheng managed to stay as calm as he did through all of it.

Once they were in sight of the guards which they had confused when leaving not too long ago, they came rushing towards them, no doubt in order to help the king lose his baggage. However, the boys seemed to utterly misjudge the situation.

"Guards! Thank god there are guards! Help us! This crazy guy is kidnapping us! He said he wants to eat us!", one of them yelled at the top of his lungs.

The guards ignored him completely, and bowed to Hua Cheng.

"Your Majesty, how may we assist you?", one of them asked.

"Take those brats, tie them up and have Mu Qing have a talk with them. I want him to report to me in the throne room when he's done. No rush", Hua Cheng ordered, and the guards immediately listened, three of them coming forward to apprehend one child each. The boy that had yelled so loud earlier looked utterly dumbfounded at this turn of events.

"And what about those dogs, Your Majesty?"

"Have Lang QianQiu estimate how dangerous they are, and if they can be useful in any way. Kill them if they are dangerous, throw them back on the streets if they aren't useful", he decided, and handed another guard the leashes. Xie Lian had always liked animals, and hoped that at the very least, the dogs wouldn't have to be killed. After all, it wasn't their fault if their masters had trained them to become such beasts.

Feeling a little depressed, he couldn't help but sigh. It caught the attention of the guards, as well as Hua Cheng's, and they all looked at him.

"Xi- Gong-... Your Highness, should we take that child as well?", one of the guards addressed him, and while Xie Lian found it quite funny how he'd stumbled through the initial address, he was surprised 'Your Highness' was what he'd settled on.

"That's fine, I'll bring him to the infirmary myself", Xie Lian answered.

Hua Cheng accompanied him there, so Xie Lian used the opportunity to ask him.

"How come I'm 'Your Highness'? Surely I shouldn't be addressed like that before we're m-married?", he asked, and couldn't help a blush spreading down his neck.

"I'm actually quite pleased that's what he went with. After all, getting married is only a matter of time, no? I certainly don't plan on ever finding another mate after you. Because there won't be an after you for me. So I don't mind at all if they are a little hasty in calling you that. At least they show you the respect you deserve."

Xie Lian was much too flustered to reply to that properly.

"L-let's talk about this later. Look, we're almost there", Xie Lian sputtered, and sped up his pace to escape having Hua Cheng see the full extent of his blush. His alpha laughed, but there was only fondness in it.

When they entered the infirmary, Shi QingXuan was talking to someone in the entrance area, and once he saw the child in Xie Lian's arms, mirth entered his eyes.

"Xie Lian, haven't I told you already? You really don't need to keep finding injured kids if you want to come see me", he laughed.

"This isn't the time", Hua Cheng said, sounding rather prickly, and put a hand on Xie Lian's back, gently pushing him to keep walking.

"Y-Your Majesty?! Holy cannoli, I totally didn't recognise you! Nice get up! So anyway, with expressions like that, I'm guessing the situation is more serious than usual? Come with me", he said, and by the time he stopped talking, he was already halfway down the hallway.

Of course Hua Cheng and Xie Lian didn't waste any time in following him.

Once Xie Lian had put Guzi down on the bed, Shi QingXuan got a clearer picture of the extent of the wounds, and his face immediately darkened.

"I see. I'm afraid this will take quite a while. Try coming back around sundown", Shi QingXuan dismissed them, and immediately got to work. Guzi had, rather mercifully, passed out in the meantime, so they didn't bother hanging around and disturbing Shi QingXuan's work.

However, Xie Lian didn't want to stray too far away from the infirmary, so Hua Cheng led him into the beautiful garden that was right outside the infirmary.

"It's a shame our time in the city got cut short", Hua Cheng commented, once he found a bench to sit down on.

"We can just go back on another day though, can't we?", Xie Lian replied, not feeling too bothered by it.

"Of course we can. Won't you sit down… dianxia?", his alpha smiled mischievously.

For a moment, Xie Lian felt incredibly flustered by Hua Cheng calling him that, in such an earnest tone as well, despite his mischief, but he managed to get a hold of himself rather quickly, and decided to pay his alpha back for making him flustered all the time. So, with slight difficulty, he went to straddle his alpha.

"Oh?", Hua Cheng asked while simultaneously grabbing Xie Lian's hips.

"Since you call me "Your Highness", surely you don't expect me to sit on such a hard bench. San Lang's lap is much more comfortable after all", he teased.

His alpha's eyes widened, before he burst out laughing.

"Of course. Dianxia is completely right. How silly of me to assume your royal butt should ever touch such a lowly piece of stone. I'll gladly be dianxia's cushion", Hua Cheng teased right back, and it had Xie Lian shaking with suppressed laughter.

"All jokes aside though, gege. What do you intend to do with that child once he's healed?"

At Hua Cheng's question, Xie Lian sobered up immediately.

"I don't know. I didn't think that far ahead, but I think we should put some notice out so his parents will come and get him?", Xie Lian thought out loud.

"That kid is a street rat, gege, and I highly doubt he has parents", Hua Cheng said rather pessimistically.

"Why does San Lang think so?", Xie Lian asked curiously. Did Hua Cheng know who this child was?

"Experience. I used to be a street rat as well, so I know which signs to look out for. I don't know if gege noticed, but there was a small piece of bread on the ground when we got there. I will bet you half of my fortune that this kid stole it, and that the original owner of that bread sent those other kids and dogs out to hunt the thief down."

Xie Lian thought that scenario made a lot of sense. And he had indeed noticed the piece of bread, however he had not thought it to be significant enough to think about. However…

"But why do you think the boy doesn't have parents?"

"If he had parents, wouldn't they have gone out to try and steal something, instead of sending out their kid? Even if the parents existed, and had some illness or something else that would prevent them from trying to provide for their kid, what parent doesn't scent their offspring? Especially before sending them out on a task like that? Since that boy only smells like a beta, and there's no trace of any other scent on him, it must've been at least about a month since the last time he got scented. Not scenting your child for so long goes against all instincts a parent has, doesn't it?"

That was true. His own parents had quite annoyed him with constantly wanting to scent him when he was about the age of that boy. And, now that he thought about it, even homeless kids always had at least traces of their parent's scent on them. Xie Lian couldn't claim to have interacted all that much with the homeless in his lifetime, so he could only draw from very limited experience, and decided to trust Hua Cheng on this.

"I see. That does make sense. Then… what are you going to do with those three kids?"

"Mu Qing will find out who their parents are, and pay them a little visit. And although I already have a guess who sent them to hunt that boy down, I don't think he's their father."

"Who?"

"There's this really shit baker on the outskirts of the city. I banned him from the main market last year because he kept disturbing the other vendors. His name is Qi Rong, and he loves to threaten people with saying he'll eat them. That one kid accused me of saying it earlier, so since it was the first thing that came to his mind, I'm guessing he's heard that phrase a lot. I can't imagine anyone else spouting distasteful shit like this on a regular basis."

"If that's the case, don't you think those kids will end up back with him in one way or another?", Xie Lian asked, now feeling a bit worried about them.

"I'll see what Mu Qing has to report first, and decide on what to do about it when the time comes. But gege… you've been sitting on my lap like this for a long time now, and you still haven't kissed me. I'm quite sad", Hua Cheng pouted at him.

Xie Lian could only shake his head and indulge him, leaning forward, and gently pressing his lips to Hua Cheng's. The kiss wasn't at all like the one they shared in the back alley earlier; it was very soft and gentle and slow and there was no tongue involved at all. It was because Hua Cheng let Xie Lian take the lead this time, and he still didn't feel confident enough to initiate a kiss like that .

Xie Lian cut the kiss off with a squeak when he felt Hua Cheng's hands sliding on, and then gripping , his bum. He immediately blushed a bright crimson colour, and was so flustered, he didn't even know where to look.

"S-S-S-San Lang!", he cried in mortification, but his alpha only chuckled and gave his bum a squeeze! That little- ! "W-w-w-what are you doing!?" he tried to say sternly, but it came out rather pitifully.

"Just appreciating my omega", he said unapologetically, and nuzzled Xie Lian's neck, while starting to rumble in his chest at the same time.

"B-but we're outside! San Lang! If- what if someone sees-!?", he asked with a whine, still feeling rather embarrassed.

"So what? Are they going to tell us off? I'd like to see them dare", his alpha chuckled darkly and for some reason it sent shivers down Xie Lian's spine.

"It's- that doesn't make it anymore decent San Lang!", Xie Lian kept arguing anyway, and it was only then that Hua Cheng moved his hands away from his bum, and rested them on the top of Xie Lian's thighs instead.

"If gege is uncomfortable with something I do, he should say it directly, instead of finding other excuses", Hua Cheng told him, and now there was a hint of apology in his voice.

He was right though, Xie Lian thought, and swore to himself that he would better his behaviour. Hadn't he been the one to lecture Hua Cheng about trust anyway? How was his alpha supposed to trust him if Xie Lian didn't flat out tell him what really bugged him about a situation!? How hypocritical of him.

Xie Lian shook his head at himself and apologised.

"I'm sorry, San Lang… you're right."

Hua Cheng gave him a peck on the lips before he sighed.

"As much as I don't want to, I need to go to the throne room. I'll be home as soon as I'm done dealing with those children", Hua Cheng said decidedly, and gently patted Xie Lian's leg, telling him to move off, which he did obediently.

However, Xie Lian felt a little mischievous himself, and before he got off of Hua Cheng's lap, he leaned forward to whisper into his ear.

"Then, I'll be waiting for my alpha in bed."

The look Hua Cheng gave him in response to that was definitely worth the embarrassment that followed uttering such a line.

After Hua Cheng had left with the promise of not making him wait too long, Xie Lian slowly made his way back to the infirmary.

Shi QingXuan was indeed done treating the child, however the look on his face was rather grim.

"I'm afraid I can't prevent his face from scarring. I imagine he will still be looking a little scary, even when he's completely healed. At least he isn't in mortal danger from blood loss anymore", he sighed, and wiped his already dry forehead. "I'm still going to keep him here for another few days to make sure his wounds won't reopen. Poor thing. Anyway, His Majesty is waiting for my verdict on the boy's health, so I need to get going. I'll see you later."

And with that, Shi QingXuan was gone.

Xie Lian poked his head into Guzi's room, wanting to check up on him, but the boy was fast asleep, so Xie Lian could only sigh, and make his way back to Hua Cheng's chambers.

Once there, he decided to take a nice long bath, however it felt rather lonely in this huge bathtub, so Xie Lian didn't stay as long as he had initially intended. Once he was done with his bath, he chose to wear one of the robes Hua Cheng had gifted him, but after putting it on, he did something he'd never done before.

After all, he couldn't deny the fact that cuddling with his alpha naked had indeed felt incredibly nice, and while he didn't want to make a habit out of sleeping like that, he felt that it shouldn't hurt to expose more of his skin in bed than was strictly decent. Which was why he loosened the collar of his robes, until most of his chest and a good portion of his abdomen was visible. He felt rather forward for presenting himself like this in front of Hua Cheng, but then again, there was no issue with that. After all, he was pretty sure that his alpha would appreciate it as well.